Peter Obi, Ghost Of The Past And Reality Of Today

Never live in today like tomorrow won’t come, while he reigned supreme as the lord of the manor, he exhibited certain needless manifestations that were antithetical to common sense. In a swift moment of needless impulse, he bundled some northerners, mostly those who engaged in menial jobs for survival and marched them in trailer load back to their base. To him, these guys had no business being in Anambra State. Those who were allowed to stay behind were marked with i dentity ropes dangling on their necks. This same lethargic indecision was extended to neighboring southeastern states when he sacked civil servants who aren’t indigenes of Anambra State. They were tragic decisions that left a sore reference in the idea of one Nigeria. Nothing breaks the fiber of a society like the flagrant display of divisiveness.

Mr Peter Obi is dangerously being haunted by the hubris of his self-inflicted past, like a book every chapter is open to unbury gaffes, lies and double-faced personality. In one of his outings on the popular talk show platform, he regaled the audience on his prudent and austere lifestyle, so excited was he that he announced to the boisterous crowd of having just a wristwatch! He was cheered to high heavens as that leader that isn’t defined by the ostentatious bait of life.

In the same vein, the soft-spoken former governor of Anambra announced his penchant for traveling on economic class, not staying in expensive hotels and bragging of owning just a house. These were however punctured as a house in the United Kingdom was traced to him with pictures of him adorning different shades of wristwatches.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) running mate to Alhaji Atiku in the forthcoming presidential elections was also recently busted with the echoes of his past stance when he vehemently referred to Muhammadu Buhari as being too old to be president in 2015. According to him, a 72-year-old man has no business.

Unfortunately, Mr Obi is today standing in supportive tissue with Atiku who is 72 years old! Talk about consistent inconsistency. Tracing the many inconsistencies of Peter Obi was the reported embarrassing situation where the convoy of the former governor was sighted and caught in front of Next International Offices in Apapa, Lagos, carrying a whopping sum of N250 million in raw cash. Public calculations were made and plausible questions were put forth on why a ‘financially disciplined’ former banker would have to move a quarter of a billion naira in this era of seamless electronic cash transfer?

Is Mr Peter Obi living a two-faced life where what he preaches is in variance with who he is? Did the man overrate himself in sanctimonious garb to hoodwink the people when in measurable sense there are frightening contradictions in his personality? Should we allow Obi’s sheer boost of falsehood in the face of glaring truth? In every element of the future, there is an iota of the past. Those who look up to the future must have their past in tandem to the reality of today. It would be unfair to allow the inconsistencies in the beautiful profile of Peter Obi to sail on when he can address them now that he seeks the mandate of the people. Leadership founded on deceit is a catalyst to a dysfunctional society. We are where we are because of where we are coming from and where we are today determines where we will be tomorrow.

Whoever must lead us must carry the ware of integrity in character and deeds; never again shall we go back to the era where lies and deceits were the ingredients of existence. Great nations are made when the people are governed by people defined by the true spirit of honesty, moral compass, and by leaders whose patriotism overwhelm their personal interests devoid of primordial sentiments. This is the time to scrutinise the characters of our leaders beyond what they throw at us. For Mr Peter Obi, he alone can bury the ghosts of the past by coming out clean in his true character.